Miss-Delectable
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3592292a7144,00.html
Youngster James King is on a waiting list an ear surgeon describes as illogical.
Hamilton toddler James King can't hear a thing. – One operation could fix all that – and if he has it soon he'll be able to hear and learn to speak like any other child.
But a lack of Health Ministry funding means the cochlea implant James badly needs isn't available outside private hospitals.
Despite being diagnosed as profoundly deaf at two days old, he turns one today and is still waiting for an implant.
And time is running out.
The optimal age for an implant is between six and nine months. After that the chances of James learning to listen and speak naturally become less and less. Mainstream education will ultimately be impossible.
His mother Robyn King is distraught, and writing to every MP she can think of to get some help.
"I just can't believe they are making him wait. It's so hard on us."
The Government funds only 14 implants a year in the northern part of the country and 28 nationally. James missed out this year and is on the waiting list for the year from July.
Cochlea implants mimic the function of the inner ear, translating sound into electrical impulses which are sent to the brain.
Gloria Budgen, chairwoman of the Northern Cochlea Implant Trust which administers implants, said that twice as much funding was needed. Operations cost about $50,000 each.
"The trust's position is very clear cut. We can't support the demand." She said that in the year from July, three children and 28 adults were already on the waiting list.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSeventeen more adults and 10 more children were being assessed.
Ear surgeon Colin Brown, based at Starship Hospital, said a report to the ministry by consultants Fitzgerald & Associates said there was a need for 50 implants a year.
There was little purpose in having a newborn hearing screening programme at Waikato Hospital if the most extreme cases it identified couldn't be helped anyway.
"Every day you leave it, it gets harder for them to learn to listen and speak."
Mr Brown said that if children couldn't have mainstream education and needed assistance, it cost taxpayers far more in the long run.
"What the Ministry of Health is doing by having these kids on a waiting list is illogical."
Another Hamilton mother, Abigail Marriot, has been more fortunate. Her son Finlay, who is nearly three, received an implant more than a year ago. He now has a language ability higher than average for his age. She sympathised with Mrs King.
"For families who are waiting, every week lost is painful and stressful, at best.
"It is unfair for adults that they have to wait for an implant but I think it's despicable that children have to wait. Every day that goes past brings them closer to never being able to speak."
A statement from Health Ministry chief adviser child and youth health, Pat Tuohy, said he was confident sufficient funding existed for timely cochlea implants for children and adults.
Youngster James King is on a waiting list an ear surgeon describes as illogical.
Hamilton toddler James King can't hear a thing. – One operation could fix all that – and if he has it soon he'll be able to hear and learn to speak like any other child.
But a lack of Health Ministry funding means the cochlea implant James badly needs isn't available outside private hospitals.
Despite being diagnosed as profoundly deaf at two days old, he turns one today and is still waiting for an implant.
And time is running out.
The optimal age for an implant is between six and nine months. After that the chances of James learning to listen and speak naturally become less and less. Mainstream education will ultimately be impossible.
His mother Robyn King is distraught, and writing to every MP she can think of to get some help.
"I just can't believe they are making him wait. It's so hard on us."
The Government funds only 14 implants a year in the northern part of the country and 28 nationally. James missed out this year and is on the waiting list for the year from July.
Cochlea implants mimic the function of the inner ear, translating sound into electrical impulses which are sent to the brain.
Gloria Budgen, chairwoman of the Northern Cochlea Implant Trust which administers implants, said that twice as much funding was needed. Operations cost about $50,000 each.
"The trust's position is very clear cut. We can't support the demand." She said that in the year from July, three children and 28 adults were already on the waiting list.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSeventeen more adults and 10 more children were being assessed.
Ear surgeon Colin Brown, based at Starship Hospital, said a report to the ministry by consultants Fitzgerald & Associates said there was a need for 50 implants a year.
There was little purpose in having a newborn hearing screening programme at Waikato Hospital if the most extreme cases it identified couldn't be helped anyway.
"Every day you leave it, it gets harder for them to learn to listen and speak."
Mr Brown said that if children couldn't have mainstream education and needed assistance, it cost taxpayers far more in the long run.
"What the Ministry of Health is doing by having these kids on a waiting list is illogical."
Another Hamilton mother, Abigail Marriot, has been more fortunate. Her son Finlay, who is nearly three, received an implant more than a year ago. He now has a language ability higher than average for his age. She sympathised with Mrs King.
"For families who are waiting, every week lost is painful and stressful, at best.
"It is unfair for adults that they have to wait for an implant but I think it's despicable that children have to wait. Every day that goes past brings them closer to never being able to speak."
A statement from Health Ministry chief adviser child and youth health, Pat Tuohy, said he was confident sufficient funding existed for timely cochlea implants for children and adults.